


Rise to the Challenge

by Mangoesaregood8



Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Angst, Baking, Blind Ignis Scientia, Chocobros - Freeform, Cooking, Cute, Emotional Hurt, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Feels, Final Fantasy XV - Freeform, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Food, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, One Shot, Self-Doubt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-10
Updated: 2018-08-10
Packaged: 2019-06-24 15:46:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,706
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15633777
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mangoesaregood8/pseuds/Mangoesaregood8
Summary: Ignis is having a hard time adjusting to being blind and is trying to relearn how to live without his vision.  Tired of feeling helpless, he turns to one of his favorite pastimes, but even cooking comes with its own challenges.





	Rise to the Challenge

**Author's Note:**

> This turned out to be a lot longer than I thought it would be, but I was having a lot of fun writing this. Enjoy~

I’ve creamed the butter and sugar together, now what was next? Was it flour?” Ignis shook his head. “No, the flour goes in last. The eggs go next, but…” He groped around the counter for the carton of eggs and frowned. “How many eggs do I need?” He slammed the whisk down on the counter with a huff. “This would be so difficult if I could just read the bloody recipe!”  
“Everything alright in there Iggy?” Gladio asked from the next room.  
“Yes, everything is fine.” Ignis reached for the eggs again and pulled one out of the carton. “Three eggs should be enough…”  
“Did you want some help?” Gladio asked.  
“No, I can’ handle it. I need a bit more time to get my bearings is all.” Ignis felt around for the bowl and tapped the egg against it until he felt the shell crack. He was reaching for a second egg when he heard the chair in the other room groan, and the soft thuds of Gladio’s boots against the wooden floor.  
Ignis sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. “Gladio, I said I didn’t need help. I can manage on my own.”  
“Are you sure?” Gladio tipped the bowl toward himself and peered in at its contents. “You’ve got some eggshells in here.”  
“Where? I’ll pick them-” Ignis’s hand hovered over the bowl for a second before dropping back down to his side. “This is pointless. I’m never going to be able to cook again at this rate.”  
Gladio grabbed a fork out of the closest drawer and started picking out bits of shell from the butter mixture. “Yeah you will. Cooking’s kinda like riding a bike. You never really forget how to do it.”  
“Yes, but you need to be able to see to do both of those things. I can’t follow a recipe if I can’t read it.”  
“That never stopped you before,” Gladio said. “You used to come up with your own recipes all the time. Just wing it.”  
“I came up with those recipes by looking at others. Even if I am improvising, I still can’t see what I’m doing. I can’t tell if a cake is finished baking if I can’t look at it.”  
“Then use your other senses.”  
“What would you have me do? Touch it while it’s still in the oven?”  
“No.” Gladio set the fork down on the counter once he was sure he had gotten all of the shells out. “Don’t you have a stick or something you poke into a cake to test it?”  
“I do, but that doesn’t change the fact that I can’t see what’s on it after I pull it out,” Ignis said. He crossed his arms and leaned back against the counter. Vision was crucial to so many different aspects of cooking. Did he really think he would be able to cook without it?  
“You can’t see it, but you can feel it. You’ve been learning how to get around on your own without using your eyes after Altissia. Cooking will be the same. You have to learn how to do it a different way.”  
“It’s not as though I have much of choice.”  
“You do have a choice. You can either give up now, or quit your moping and keep practicing. We made a promise to Noct that we would help him take his place as chosen king. It’s kind hard to save the world on an empty stomach, don’t you think?” Gladio asked.  
“I suppose.”  
“Look, you told us that despite your injury, you would keep up. And if you couldn’t keep up, you’d bow out. Are you calling it quits already?”  
Ignis stayed silent, reflecting back on his words. It seemed like the right thing to say at the time to ease the hostility between the four men, but now… How was he supposed to protect Noctis if he couldn't even seen what he was protecting Noctis from?  
“I didn’t think you were one to give up that easy,” Gladio said.  
“I vowed to protect Noct until the very end,” Ignis said. “And I have every intention of keeping that vow.”  
“Good.”  
“But I don’t know how,” Ignis admitted. It was a brief statement full of uncertainty that was so uncharacteristic of Ignis.  
That simple admission was enough for gladio to see just how helpless Ignis was feeling. There was something else too. Fear. Ignis rarely talked about his own emotions, prefering to deal with his feelings privately, but that sing sentence let Gladio see how afraid Ignis was of failing to help Noctis succeed, and how afraid he was by the prospect of being left behind. Ignis was the voice of reason in the group. He handled every situation with a cool and composed demeanor. Seeing Ignis so raw and vulnerable now was such a stark contrast to his usual stoic nature that it cut Gladio deeper than any sword possibly could.  
“You know you don’t have to do this alone, right?” Gladio asked. “We want to help you, but you have to let us. I’m sure that Prompto would be more than happy to help you cook”  
“I could be paralyzed from the neck down, and I still wouldn’t let Prompto anywhere near my kitchen,” Ignis said.  
“Fair enough.” Gladio tried to hold backa snicker and failed. “What about Noct? Didn’t he used to help you out when he was younger?”  
Ignis’s shoulders tensed and he dropped his head down till he was staring blindly toward the floor. “Noct has enough on his plate right now.”  
“You’re running out of options,” Gladio said. He clapped Ignis on the back and squeezed the smaller man’s shoulder. “If you wanted to spend more time with me, you could have just said so.”  
“What?” Ignis pushed his glasses further up on the bridge of his nose and turned away from Gladio. Why was the room so hot all of a sudden? “I think we spend more than enough time together. We’re barely had a moment apart since we left Insomnia.”  
“That’s true.” Gladio turned to face the counter and inspected the ingredients that Ignis had already laid out. “Better grab your apron. It’d be a shame to let all of this go to waste.”  
“You still haven’t answered the question of how I’m supposed to finish following a recipe I can’t see.”  
“Yeah I did. You gotta use your other senses. You can’t see the different between sugar and salt, but you can sure as hell taste it.”  
“You can also taste if I dropped any eggshells in the batter before baking it,” Ignis countered.  
“I can let you know if you drop any,” Gladio said.  
“And what if you’re busy?”  
“If you’re that worried about it, you could always practice cracking open a few.”  
“And let perfectly good eggs go to waste?” Ignis asked. “I think not. Unless you’re prepared to eat a rather large omelette.”  
“Well, that’s what practice is for. You have to get used to relying on your other senses, and I’m going to help you do it.”  
“Better get started then.” Ignis pushed his sleeves up past his elbows to keep them out of the way before reaching out for the carton of eggs once more.  
“Do you have the recipe lying around somewhere, or is this an Ignis original?” Gladio asked. “I don’t actually know what you’re making.”  
“I keep my recipe book on the shelf near the spice rack.” Ignis found the eggs and held one against the edge of the bowl. If he could hit it against the rim at the right angle with just enough force, he could crack it cleanly with no risk of unwanted bits of shell falling in. If he hit it too hard, the shell would break in two, leaving an oozing mess all over the side of the bowl and countertop. On the other hand, if he didn’t hit it hard enough, the shell would break into tiny pieces, leaving him, or rather Gladio, to pick out all of the fragments. Ignis took a deep breath and brought the egg down on the rim of the bowl in one swift motion. So far it felt like a clean break. He used his thumb to separate the two halves of the shell and let the egg slide into the bowl before setting the shell aside.  
“Found it.” Gladio brough the recipe book out and flipped it open to the last section labeled ‘DESSERTS!’ “Which step are you on?”  
“I’ve just added two of three eggs.”  
“Only one more to go.”  
Ignis grabbed the last egg and cracked it open just like the previous one. “Next I stir until well blended and add the remaining wet ingredients if i remember correctly.”  
Gladio double checked with the recipe book. “Yeah, that’s it.”  
Ignis picked up his whisk from earlier and set to work. Once the eggs were fully incorporated, he reached out for a measuring cup, but hesitated before picking it up.  
“What is it?” Gladio asked.  
“I can’t see the markings on the measuring cup for the cream,” Ignis said.  
“Don’t you have different sized ones?”  
“Yes, but those are for dry ingredients.”  
“Wait, you can’t use the same cup to measure everything?” Gladio asked.  
“Technically you can, but you’re likely to make a mess in the process. Most people’s hands aren’t steady enough to carry a full unit of liquid to the mixing bowl without spilling. To avoid making such a mess, many people underfill the measuring cup, but that could negatively impact how your dish turns out.”  
“Damn…” Gladio frowned and scratched the back of his head. “Are we baking, or are you giving me a science lesson?”  
“Baking, and even cooking for that matter, are equal parts both art and science. Having the ability to strike the perfect balance between the two is what makes you a master.”  
“You definitely have the science part down.” Gladio picked up the whipping cream and set it down next to Ignis’s wandering hands.  
“While I appreciate the compliment, I have a long way to go before I could be considered a master.” Ignis’s fingers brushed against the edge of the container and he picked it up. “If I pour, would you let me know when I’ve reached one third of a cup?”  
“Sure.” Gladio wrapped both hands around the cup to hold it steady.  
Ignis twisted the lid off of the cream and wiped the excess moisture onto his apron. He would have quite the mess to clean up later if the carton slipped out of his hands. He found Gladio’s hands, then the opening to the measuring cup. He tipped the carton slowly until a thin stream of liquid trickled out.  
Gladion watched Ignis’s face as he worked. He was so transfixed on the task at hand at that moment, that nothing else in the world mattered so long as the right amount of cream ended up in that cup.  
For Ignis, it was a test. Would he really be able to cook again on his own? If he could do this, then could move on to see what other tasks he could perform in the kitchen. But if he were to fail… It was another step towards losing what little independence he had left. The doctors in Altissia had told him that if his vision didn’t recover, and the chances of it recovering were minimal at best, he wouldn’t be able to live alone. He would be required to have a caretaker to make sure he didn’t get hurt doing day to day tasks, like when he sliced his finger during his first failed cooking attempt. The thin line from the injury was well healed over by now, but it still pained him from time to time.  
He couldn’t handle the idea of someone constantly watching over him, flinching everytime he tripped or stumbled. He may not have been able to see it, but he knew. Ignis had been independent from early on, so to lose so many freedoms so quickly… It was devastating. Driving was way out of the question now, and there was no way to adapt the Regalia to make it possible. He wouldn’t be able to take care of his friends when they got injured in battle. If he couldn’t learn a new way to cook, then he wouldn’t be able to take care of his friends at all. Would they really still want to keep him around if he was that useless?  
Ignis tightened his grip on the cream carton and poured with renewed determination. He could not fail this test. He would not let his friends down.  
“I think that’s enough Iggy,” Gladio said.  
Ignis turned the carton upright and set it to the side. “Let me see it.”  
“Uh… Okay.”  
Ignis took the measuring cup from Gladio and held it tightly in his hands. The cream was still cold enough that he could feel its chill though the slick glass of the cup.  
“What are you doing/” Gladio asked as he watched Ignis practically fondle the cup of cream. He wasn’t quite sure what to make of it.  
“What you told em to do. I’m using my senses. I can feel where the cream is, because it’s so much colder than my hands.” Ignis held out the cup for Gladio to see. “Did I make it.”  
Gladio waited for the liquid in the cup to settle before studying it. Sure enough, the line of cream merged perfectly with the one third mark on the outside of the glass. “You couldn’t have gotten it any closer if you tried.”  
Ignis sighed and felt an enormous weight lift from his shoulders. Maybe this wasn’t a hopeless venture after all. He continued running his hands over the cup, trying to memorize the different feelings of where the cup was empty, and where it was not.  
“Were you going to mix it in, or should I give you two a minute?” Gladio asked.  
“No need. Ignis dumped the cream into the bowl and whisked it together until the sounds of the contents sloshing around changed as the mixture thickened up.  
“That’s one more step down,” Gladio said as he consulted the cookbook. “What’s next?”  
“Next i need a pinch of salt and a bit more sugar,” Ignis said.  
“Hang on.” Gladio set the book down on a bit of free counter space. He picked up two equally sized ceramic containers and set them both down in front of Ignis. Now it was Gladio’s turn to test him.  
“What’s this?” Ignis reached out until his hands came in contact with the two jars.  
“You said you needed the sugar and salt. Which one’s which?”  
“Gladio!” Ignis stepped backward and took a deep breath. “I need two spoons.”  
“What for?” Gladio asked as he grabbed the requested utensils.  
“To do what you told me to. Use my senses.”  
“That’s our Iggy.”  
Ignis picked up one of the jars and brought it closer to his nose to see if he could identify its contents by smell. The grains inside stung at his nose and had an odd metallic hint to it. He had a good idea of what it was, but he wanted to be absolutely sure. Ignis dipped a spoon in for a taste.  
“Well? Which is it?” Gladio asked.  
Ignis made a face and forced himself to swallow. “That was, without a doubt, salt.”  
Gladio smirked. “Want to double check?”  
“I’ll leave that to you.” Ignis added a pinch of salt, and an even bigger pinch of sugar. Noctis and Prompto especially both had a giant sweet tooth, so he liked to indulge them every so often.  
After whisking in the sugar and salt, Ignis added the flour, measuring it out on his own, and mixed it into the batter in steps.  
“Man that smells good,” Gladio said. “Can’t wait to try it.”  
Once the last bit of flour had been added and mixed it, it was time to transfer the batter to a pan. Ignis opted for a simple rectangular pan with a floral design embossed in the top. With Gladio’s help, he was able to get the pan greased, floured, and to pour the batter into the pan. He tapped the pan on the counter a few times to remove any excess air before carefully making his way toward the oven.  
Gladio opened the door and stepped to the side. “It’s ready when you are.”  
Ignis crouched down to be level with the oven rack and inched forward. Feeling his way around to find an ingredient was one thing. The worst that could happen was getting jabbed by one of the spines on the fruit. It would smart, but it would heal quickly. With the oven, there was no room for error. A mistake would not only leave Ignis with another nasty scar, but there was also little chance that his cake would make it out unscathed.  
“Are you going to put it in?” Gladio asked after Ignis hesitated yet again.  
“I need to take my time. I’m not trying to get burned.” Ignis inched even closer. By now, the far side of the cake pan was touching the rack. He just needed to push it in the rest of the way… He pushed the pan, adjusting his grip on it each time it moved. Bit by bit, he was able to get the pan on the proper rack and closed the door.  
“Finally got it in there?” Gladio asked with a smirk. He knew the expression was lost on Ignis, but there was no way the other man couldn’t hear it in Gladio’s voice.  
“Yes, with no help from you.” Ignis stood up and took off the mitts. “It should be ready in about an hour.  
“I opened the door for you,” Gladio said. “So what do we do while we wait?”  
“We clean up our mess of course.”  
“Uh… What mess?”  
“Well, the eggs and cream need to be put back in the refrigerator, the bowl and whisk need to be washed, and the flour and sugar need to be put back in the pantry.”  
Gladio shook his head. “Nothing gets past you, does it?”  
“Of course not.” Ignis felt around for the mixing bowl. “Do you mind lending me a hand?”  
“Not at all.” Gladio took the mixing bowl from Ignis and washing it in the sink.  
Ignis picked up the cream and carton of eggs and shuffled his way to the refrigerator with them. It took him a few tries, but he was able to fit them back on the shelves.  
When Gladio was done washing the bowl, he set it out to dry and helped Ignis put the rest of the supplies away. He checked the oven timer out of reflex, barely registering that Ignis had set it himself. “That didn’t take very long. Now what?”  
“There is one more step before the cake can be served. Right after you take it out of the oven, you have to sprinkle a thin layer of cinnamon on top,” Ignis said.  
“Cinnamon, huh?”  
“Could you grab the bottle for me?”  
“You would know where to look for it better than I would,” Gladio said. “You’re the one who organized all of the spices in the first place.”  
“I suppose that’s true.” Ignis carefully made his way over to the spice rack, keeping his feet close to the ground so he wouldn’t trip over anything. He felt around the wall until his fingers collided with the polished boards that held his prized spice collection. Only the finest of spices, hand picked by Ignis, had the privilege of sitting on these shelves. He had arranged all of his spices in alphabetical order as his collection grew, and now he was thankful he did. He reached up to the first shelf and picked up a bottle that was a third of the way in. “Is it this one?” He muttered to himself. He flipped the lid and sniffed. His nose was filled with a hearty scent that made him think of the restaurants of Altissia. He felt a pang of sadness hit him, but quickly pushed it away. What’s done was done. There was no changing the past.  
“Basil… Not quite.” Ignis closed the container. He put it back and picked up another bottle further along the shelf. He brought it up to his nose and inhaled deeply. “Hm…” That wasn’t right either. The scent was too light, almost floral. Dill. He closed the lid and put it away. At least he had narrowed it down to the right area. Ignis moved his hand to the left and picked up another container. Not, that was too heavy. Cinnamon sticks. He picked up the container to the left of that one and flipped the lid open. Even from this distance, Ignis could smell the dark, rich notes of the cinnamon. “Ah, here we are.”  
“Good job Iggy,” Gladio said.  
“Don’t congratulate me yet. We won’t know how the cake turned out until it’s finished baking.” The possibility that the cake would turn out poorly at this stage gnawed relentlessly at the back of Ignis’s mind, making his heart pound faster in his chest than he would ever care to admit. He had picked a simple recipe on purpose; one that he had committed to memory for years. His nerves that the high stakes of the situation mad his memory falter, but Gladio was right. Cooking was like riding a bike. You could be sorely out of practice, but you never truly forgot.  
Gladio rubbed longingly at his stomach. “Smells pretty good.”  
“Smells can be deceiving.”  
Ignis could hardly sit still as he waited for the timer to count down to zero. Usually he could keep a handle on his nervous habits, never letting them show, but his composure was unraveling around the edges. He was constantly adjusting the readjusting the throw pillows on the couches in the sitting room, even though their placement made little difference to Ignis. He was so tightly wound that he practically jumped out of his skin when the timer did go off. He rushed into the kitchen, catching the toe of his shoe on the wary on the way in.  
Gladio joined him in the kitchen to watch, grateful that the wait was finally over. Watching Ignis suffer in silence, practically falling apart at the seams had been the hardest thirty minutes of his life.  
Ignis slipped on his mitts and opened the oven door. He was greeted by a blast of hot air and the smell baking sweets. He swallowed hard and pulled the rack out just enough for him to access the cake pan safely. He took his tester, a thin metal rod with a plastic handle, and used it to find the edge of the cake tin. They connected with a metallic click. Now was the moment of truth. He traced the tester over the surface of the cake. So far it felt solid. He pushed it in, piercing the surface of the cake. He pushed the rod deeper and deeper until it struck the bottom of the pan. He thanked whatever gods were on his side today that only Gladio was here to witness this. There was no way he could test himself like this with Noctis and Prompto watching. Ignis didn’t want them to see how deeply losing his vision hurt him.  
“Is it ready?” Gladio asked. “Prompto and Noct should be back any minute now.” The clock over the stove said it was almost dinner time. Noctis had gone fishing to catch dinner and to blow off some steam. Prompto had joined him to get some pictures of the ocean.  
“I’m checking it now.” Ignis pulled the tester out of the cake. He gave it a second to cool before slipping out of his oven mitt to run the tester between his fingers. It was mostly clean, save for a few crumbs. Ignis felt his shoulders drop away from his ears and he let out a breath he didn’t realize he was holding. He checked another spot on the cake with the same result. “I think it’s ready.” Ignis slipped the mitt back on, pulled the cake out of the oven, and pushed it onto the countertop above. “What color is it?”  
Gladio stepped closer to inspect the cake. “Looks golden brown to me.”  
“Excellent.” A little part of Ignis’s mind still nagged at him. The cake was cooked thoroughly, but what if it was over baked? He wouldn’t be able to tell until he cut into it. He pushed the thought aside as he reached for the cinnamon. As long as he had made it, someone would eat it. Even someone as picky as Noctis.  
Ignis sprinkled a thin layer of cinnamon on the bottom of the cake. The richness of the cinnamon blended with the fresh, sweet scent of the cake, creating a smell so intense that Ignis could almost taste it.  
“I hope the other two get back soon. I can’t wait to dig in,” Gladio said.  
As if on cue, the front door opened as Noctis walked in with Prompto chattering away behind him.  
“I couldn’t believe it! I was about to beat my high score and my game cr-” Prompto stopped mid sentence and sniffed at the room. “What’s that smell?”  
“Come to the kitchen and see for yourselves,” Ignis said. He heard the tread of feet and the screech of rubber on tile as Prompto stopped abruptly.  
“Is that a cake?” Prompto asked.  
“A cinnamon pound cake to be precise,” Ignis said.  
“Nice to see you’re cooking again Specs,” Noctis said.  
“Can we try some?” Prompto asked. Ignis could feel the vibration in the floor from Prompto bouncing up and down.  
“And spoil your appetite?” Ignis crossed his arms over his chest and shook his head. “Absolutely not.”  
“That cake might be the only thing we have for dinner,” Noctis said.  
“No luck fishing?” Gladio asked.  
“None. Didn’t even get a nibble,” Noctis said.  
“But I got some pretty epic shots of Noct,” Prompto said. “Wanna see?”  
“Later, yeah,” Gladio said.  
“Since you weren’t able to catch us anything to eat, I suppose we’ll have to settle with the vegetables Iris gave us from the garden,” Ignis said.  
Noctis made a face, accompanied by an audible noise of disgust. “I’ll take the cake.”  
“There’s nothing wrong with having dessert for dinner, right?” Prompto asked. “Come on Iggy, we’re all dying to try it.”  
“This does seem to be our only option…” Ignis trailed off. “Alright.”  
“Oh. Em. Gee. I can’t wait!” Prompto exclaimed.  
Once the cake was sufficiently cooled, Ignis cut four slices and plated them up. Prompto couldn’t contain himself and dug in as soon as his hand touched the fork.  
“This is delicious Iggy!” Prompto exclaimed through a mouthful of cake.  
Noctis swallowed his own mouthful and nodded in agreement. “Yeah, this might be one of your best cakes yet.”  
“He put a lot of work into this one,” Gladio said before taking a bite. “And it shows.”  
Ignis smiled softly as he tried a bite for himself. All of his earlier fears dissipated as he chewed. The cake was dense and moist, and all of the flavors blended together beautifully. Noctis was right. This was one of his best cakes yet.  
Ignis leaned back against the counter as he listened to the sounds of his friends happily eating around him. He may no longer have been very effective in any combat situations, or been able to chauffeur the party around, but at least he wasn’t completely useless. He wouldn’t be tending to post battle injuries anymore, but even in his impaired statie, he could still take care of his friends. He still had a long ways to go until he was back to normal, but Ignis could still take care of his friends by making sure they were well fed. For the first time since the incidents in Altissia, Ignis didn’t feel like he was holding everyone back, because with his friends by his side, he could handle anything.


End file.
